Duty Bound (Shades of Gray Civil War Serial Trilogy Book 1) by Jessica James

Author:Jessica James
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction, spies, espionage, civil war, historical romance, virginia, america, action and adventure, rebel, clean and wholesome
Publisher: Jessica James

Chapter 27

Madness in great ones must not unwatch’d go.

– Hamlet, Shakespeare

The camp lay wrapped in deep silence a little before dawn when Daniel stumbled onto the wide wooden porch of the mill and stretched. Drawing in a deep breath of the fresh, cool air, he pulled his suspenders over his shoulders and started down the steps. The flickering light from a campfire caught his eye, followed by the sight of a solitary figure silhouetted against the flames.

Daniel could tell upon his approach that her mind was miles away. She seemed to be staring into the fire in deep—and private—reflection.

“Sinclair,” he said in case anyone was about. “You get any sleep?”

Startled, Andrea looked up and shrugged. “Yes, sir. A little.”

Daniel pulled a pot of coffee off the fire, cursing under his breath when he burned his fingers, and poured the warm liquid into a battered tin cup. He wondered why she sat up awake when she looked so dreadfully tired.

“Well, I’m glad to see someone’s up keeping the coffee hot,” he said teasingly. Andrea nodded slightly, but her gaze remained locked on the flames.

Glancing up at the sky, as all soldiers do when they know they have a ride ahead of them, Daniel smiled when he saw a few stars. Good. No rain—for a little while anyway.

“I ah, need a guide,” he said, taking a sip of coffee and grimacing at its strength. “Was going to wake up Logan, but since you’re up—if you’re willing.”

He did not have time to finish. Andrea jumped to her feet, took a final gulp of coffee, dumped the rest, and limped quickly to the picket line.

“I didn’t even tell you where I’m going,” Daniel said after catching up.

“Doesn’t matter,” Andrea answered. “I don’t like sitting around camp.”

Yes, I’ve noticed that, he thought as he spread a map on his horse’s rump and lit a match. “I’m heading here.”

Andrea nodded, giving the map a quick glance and tracing a route with her finger. “I’m familiar. Let’s go.”

After refolding the map, Daniel gave her a leg up on her prancing beast, then swung into his own saddle with easy grace. Riding a few paces behind the silent figure, he watched her drift into the night with the ease of one comfortable within its depth.

She did not speak, but obviously took her business seriously, constantly scanning the terrain and studying the ground. Instead of following the road as he assumed she would, she directed him into a grove of pines with a slight nod of her head. He followed her by sound, not sight, for under the cover of the trees he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

After a few miles, Andrea reined in Justus while pulling a spyglass from her saddle. When she finished looking at the horizon, she handed it to Daniel, then circled her prancing horse back into the shadows of the trees.

Pointing the spyglass in the same direction, Daniel watched the image of shadowy horsemen come into view, their ominous forms standing in bold relief against the sun rising behind them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.